Final townhall scheduled for Tucker public works referendum

City of Tucker residents can vote on a public works referendum that—if passed—will transfer roads and maintenance services and stormwater services from DeKalb County to City of Tucker.

Road services within Tucker are currently maintained by DeKalb County through an intragovernmental agreement. Mayor Frank Auman said the Nov. 8, 2022, election is an ideal time to put the referendum on the ballot because Tucker has money to help fund the transition and because there is a growing backlog of maintenance requests to DeKalb County.

“It’s something we think we can do a lot better on,” said Auman. “The first order of business is to take care of [DeKalb’s] backlog … increase responsive to current requests, and to get to the point where we’re maintaining rather than responding. We think that would be a two-year process.”

Auman hosted a townhall on the referendum on Oct. 18 and touted the benefits of the city taking on more responsibilities and answered questions from the audience. An additional in-person community meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, 1975 Lakeside Parkway, Suite 350B. Tucker officials said the meeting will be available online at tuckerga.gov/pwmeeting.

The first community meeting was held on Sept. 21; city officials said more than 75 residents attended in-person and online.

Residents may vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the referendum during the General Election period, including absentee voting, advance voting, and Election Day voting. 

According to a Tucker spokesperson, public works services that the city would take responsibility for include asphalt patching, pothole repairs, right-of-way maintenance, sidewalk and curb repairs, traffic sign/signal maintenance, bridge maintenance, pavement marking maintenance, and transportation engineering services. Stormwater services include repairs to stormwater infrastructure and catch basin repairs. 

Auman said that there is an expected increase in property taxes and fees—of about $100 for the average Tucker household—if the referendum passes. According to Auman, the average single-family home in Tucker is valued at $328,000. For a $328,000 home, an increase of $70 per year is expected in property taxes for roads and maintenance and a $24 increase in fees for stormwater services.

“DeKalb County has made it pretty clear that they’re going to raise those rates in the next year or so … they haven’t done it yet,” added Auman.

According to Auman, the increase in fees and taxes would be well spent because Tucker will respond to road maintenance requests, stormwater issues, and other public works requests faster.

“There are minor annoyances to significant repairs that need to be done. By year two we expect to be providing significantly better response times,” said Auman.

If approved by residents during the Nov. 8 General Election, combined public works services would transition to Tucker on July 1, 2023.

“Within the first 365 days, our goals will be to prioritize deferred public works maintenance and address key repairs,” said City Manager Tami Hanlin. “If this shift in services takes place, we will develop a service delivery model that would ultimately reduce current repair and maintenance times by 50 percent by our second year of operations.”

Tucker’s website has a page dedicated to the referendum where residents can find presentations, feedback from residents, and other information at tuckerga.gov/publicworks/.

“We’ve gone to local service clubs, Tucker Business Association and [Tucker] Civic Association and held local these local meetings. Every bit of feedback we get goes into these presentations, and its updated online so it’s as current as it can be,” said Auman.